


Introductions and Departures

by antigrav_vector



Series: CapIM bingo fills - 2016 [20]
Category: Iron Man Noir, Marvel Noir, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Attraction, Cap_Ironman Bingo, Gen, Identity Porn, One-Sided Attraction, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-19 01:05:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7338346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antigrav_vector/pseuds/antigrav_vector
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captain America is called in for a mission by Nick Fury, director of SHIELD. He's to retrieve a magical object that the Germans have been experimenting with using to create new weaponry. His partner on this mission, though... that's where things begin to get interesting. Fury wants him to work with the mysterious Iron Man, infamous for his adventures in Mr. Stark's Marvels magazine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Introductions and Departures

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for the "kink:a/b/o" square of my Stony bingo card, and the beginning of a second (much shorter) miniseries.
> 
> Unbeta'ed. Please forgive any errors.

Steve eyed the clock on the wall of Fury's office and tried not to scowl too darkly. This guy he was supposed to meet was late.

When he caught Fury's attention and raised an eyebrow, he got a shrug in response. "He'll be here," was all Nick said.

"When?" Steve bit back the irritated huff that he was tempted to tack onto the end of the query.

"Whenever Stark lets him, I suspect."

Steve still wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that his old friend apparently was on good terms with Tony Stark. Stark was a celebrity, well known for his adventures, as published in his magazine, _Marvels_. Steve was a longtime fan, though he highly doubted any of the stories published therein were actually based in fact. Even loosely.

If nothing else, the concept of having a man in a suit of robotic armour for a bodyguard was fantastic enough to have Steve questioning the veracity of those tales.

And yet, here he sat, waiting for said bodyguard to show his face.

It took another five long minutes -- the guy was a quarter of an hour late, for Chrissakes -- for Iron Man to show up.

When he did, it was obvious long before the door opened. The secretary opened it for him, and Steve stared openly at the sight that met his eyes.

That was a man in a seven goddamn foot suit of armour that all but bristled with guns and weaponry. It smelled faintly of ozone and -- to Steve's shock -- omega.

Steve doubted anyone but him could even have detected the tiny wisp of scent that clung to the metal plates, though. It was startling. He'd only ever met two omegas in his life, up to this point. They weren't exactly common. Last figure he'd read had said that maybe two to three percent of the population fell into the category.

Most people were beta or neutral, and went about their lives without thinking about finding someone to balance out their lives. There had recently been research done that proved the common wisdom: an alpha could function without an omega, but it was much more difficult and led to a lot of mental health issues. But paired off with one another, they mitigated one anothers' problems and generally saw a much improved quality of life.

In large part Steve's interest stemmed from the knowledge that he himself was a similar kind of outlier. An alpha, one of those other two to three percent of the population who fell on the other extreme of the scale, Steve had always held out the hope that he could find someone to balance him. The problem had always been his identity as Captain America, which was being kept top secret. His orientation had been a large part of the reason that he'd been chosen for Project Rebirth, and the doctors had told him afterward that it had also been the reason he'd survived. He hadn't quite understood the medical jargon, though. Something about hormone levels and dopamine production. Whatever that meant.

Intrigued despite himself and wondering who the omega was that was involved in Iron Man's life, Steve stood. Fury broke the silence first, though. "'Bout time you showed up. Boss kept you working late?" he asked gruffly.

"Sorry about that, sir," Iron Man replied. "Ran into some minor trouble on my way over."

Fury frowned. "Trouble?"

Steve got the impression that Iron Man would have shrugged if he could. "Doors and I have a bit of a stormy relationship. Mr. Jarvis has yet to find a way to improve the armour's dexterity enough that I can avoid crushing doorknobs."

Fury snorted but brought himself back to the topic. "Iron Man," he said, "meet Captain America."

Steve stepped forward, taking his cue. He automatically offered his hand. There was an awkward pause before he realised what the problem was. "Err, right. Armour." Giving the bodyguard a wry smile, he pulled back his hand. "Pleasure."

There was an oddly dark grinding sound that approximated a chuckle. "No harm done. So, sir, what's this mission you needed my services for so desperately? Mr. Stark was tempted not to agree to this without any information, you know."

Chewing thoughtfully on his cigar, Fury handed Steve a folder, clearly intending that he should hold it open so that he and Iron Man both could read the contents. "I've received intel that the Nazis have gotten hold of an artifact of great power known as the 'cosmic cube'. Whatever that is."

Iron Man made a startled sound. "I've heard of that. Came up on one of my adventures with Mr. Stark. Supposedly gives the wielder the power to reshape reality and even history, though it's driven anyone who tried mad."

"Got it in one," Fury replied, seemingly calm.

Steve could tell he was very tense. "So what do you expect us to do, then, Fury?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Fury pointed at the folder Steve still held. "You and Iron Man are going to get it back out of Nazi hands."

Privately, even as he nodded, Steve couldn't help but think that it didn't really belong in _anyone's_ hands. It was the kind of power best left the Hell alone.

Squaring his shoulders, he turned to Iron Man. "So," he asked, "what do I need to know about the combat abilities of that armour of yours, and emergency measures?"

Iron Man seemed to consider how much to say. "I can't give you any confidential information," he opened. "The precise capabilities are proprietary information."

"So what can you tell me?" Steve asked when Iron Man paused.

"Well," Iron Man answered eventually, clearly picking his words carefully, "I have limited flight capabilities, whatever guns you see, and the suit stops any bullet up to .50 caliber. Anything larger and I'll really feel it the next day."

Steve nodded, but kept silent, waiting.

"The other thing about the suit that you'll need to know is that it needs to be charged every two to four days, depending on the level of use. I don't anticipate that being an issue on this mission, but, well. Emergencies can happen."

"Noted."

"Well, then," Fury put in dryly, "if that's settled, you're leaving on the next flight out of here. Be on the tarmac in 45 minutes. You'll be landing in London. After that, you're on your own as far as transportation is concerned."

Steve gave him a long level look. "And when were you going to tell us this?"

Fury looked unrepentant. "Now."

Iron Man made a sound that approximated a sigh. "Come on, Cap. We have some preparations to make."

\------

It was nearing midnight, New York time, when they touched down at London's Heathrow airport. Iron Man stood and stretched once the plane's wheels were on the ground, keeping his balance easily through the turns as their plane taxied away from the landing strip.

Their next hurdle would be getting Iron Man over the borders and into Germany. Their target was Peenemünde Army Research Center[1], on the coast, near the old eastern German border with Poland. That border had been erased in the last few years, but, Steve was determined, it would be back soon enough.

The current plan was to hop on a small boat Iron Man had access to, thanks to his relationship with Tony Stark, and use it to get ashore near the research center, under cover of darkness. The trip itself would take some 22 hours, and would give them time to rest and plan.

Unfortunately, they had no truly reliable intel on the base itself, save a few RAF reconnaissance photos of the test stands that were used for rocket testing. The destruction of those stands was not their priority, no matter how much it might help the Allied war effort. They were to focus only on getting the Cosmic Cube out of the facility.

Refocusing on the present, Steve realised with a jolt that they'd stopped moving and stood. Sliding his shield back into its slot in the harness he wore over his back, he grabbed up the rest of his things in their duffel bag and half-jogged over to where Iron Man was standing at the cargo door of the aircraft, waiting for him.

They exited into the cavernous confines of a large aircraft hangar and Iron Man broke the silence building between them. "So, we have a few hours to while away, while we wait for the boat Mr. Stark arranged for us. What do you intend to do?"

Well, Steve considered the point, what he really wanted was to stretch his legs properly and then rest, but trying to find a place to do a ten mile run in London without being seen and his presence reported by whatever spies were surely in the city posed a problem. His other top choice -- trying to pump Iron Man for more information about himself or about his adventures with Mr. Stark -- would doubtless meet with resistance from Iron Man. It hadn't taken long for Iron Man's very private nature to become apparent. "I was thinking about finding something to eat," Steve told him, making a snap decision. "Want anything?"

It was almost 7 am, local time. There was sure to be a bakery or something open reasonably nearby, and Steve decided he would borrow someone's coveralls while he went out.

He could worry about the questions he had for Iron Man afterward. Steve almost missed Iron Man's response, as lost in his thoughts as he was. 

"Uh," Iron Man hesitated. "I can't eat while I have the helmet on, and my identity has to stay secret."

"That's not what I asked," Steve shot back pointedly, biting back his disappointment. He'd _known_ that. Why had he still hoped? What was it about Iron Man that just made him forget all caution and trust so easily? He knew nothing about this man. Not even whether it _was_ actually Tony Stark's bodyguard in the suit or some operative of Fury's.

"A strawberry milkshake, then, if you can get one. And a straw."

With a shake of his head, Steve acquiesced. "I'll see what I can do."

He'd learned one thing, at least. Iron Man had a sweet tooth.

\------------------------

[1] Peenemünde was where the Germans did a majority of the research on the V2 rockets, until the Allies managed to destroy part of the facility through bombardment. As such it was a hugely important place during the second world war, and was the target of a number of attacks. [Wikipedia link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peenem%C3%BCnde_Army_Research_Center) | [Google maps link](https://www.google.com/maps/place/54%C2%B008'34.8%22N+13%C2%B047'38.4%22E/@54.1376706,13.7604428,13.33z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d54.143!4d13.794?hl=en)


End file.
